Manga Review: Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, Volume 10, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo Beat)

Publish Date: 2013
Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: Yes, with warning.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A supernatural fantasy from the bestselling creator of Full Moon and The Gentlemen’s Alliance +!Sakura is the granddaughter of a mysterious moon princess who slew demons with her Blood Cherry Blossom sword. All her life Sakura has been forbidden to look at the full moon without knowing why. Then one night, unhappy over her impending marriage, Sakura gazes up at the moon, only to see a demon attacking her...

Rurijo captures the smitten Hayate and uses moon spring water on him. Princess Yuri, betrothed to Lord Fujimurasaki, seeks the private company of another man. And Princess Sakura is taken hostage by the emperor...

Review:

I’m not really very caught up in this story, it just doesn’t grab me very well, and I’m not sure why. I like it, I’m enjoying reading it, but still. It’s kind of slow, or I’m not very invested in the characters, or something. I don’t know.

At the end of the last volume, I was upset with how things were left. Because of how much I like Hayate. The start of this volume really dissipated that anxious feeling, though, as we find out what’s really happening, and that it’s more cliché and cutesy than I was hoping for. I should have suspected, though, really.

Also, I don’t really like what happened. I was a full shipper of Hayate/Kohaku. And now Tanemura is trying to mess me up with a Hayate/Rurijo pair? That’s not okay. (SPOILER!) Especially given that Rurijo breaks the frog spell on Hayate, Kohaku confesses to him, and he turns her down because he’s now in love with Rurijo. I’m not okay with this. Not at all.

I remember liking Rurijo at the beginning, and then not liking her, and now I’m just not sure. I feel for her, for what she’s going through with Enju. But I also kind of don’t trust her. I don’t like her and Hayate solely because of Kohaku. Then I guess there’s Shuri who likes Kohaku, but I never thought that would go anywhere; maybe I was wrong? I’m looking forward to how it all develops, but at the moment, I’m not very happy about it.

After that, there’s a chapter with Sakura meeting the emperor, and that doesn’t go well at all. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending of it, aside from the fact that I can’t really be unhappy with what happened to the emperor. What Enju did wasn’t very good, but I also didn’t like what happened to Sakura.

Then the rest of the volume is taken up with the conclusion (at least, I think so?) of Princess Yuri and Maimai, in a surprising turn of events. Overall, it was just kind of a sweet story. The ending was nice for the characters, I liked finding out more about Maimai, and Yuri, I guess. 

This was an overall okay volume. I enjoyed it, but I’m still not particularly invested in the story. I care more about Rurijo/Hayate/Kohaku/even Shuri more than I do about Enju/Sakura/Aoba, though, and that says something. I don’t know. I’m still reading. I’m mostly looking forward to the next volume, but I’m not eagerly anticipating it.